Gartner once wrote that by 2020, “the average person will have more conversations with bots (chatbots) than with their spouse”.  

That prediction might seem a bit farfetched and probably more of a sign for relationship disaster, but there is some truth there: for many people chatbots are already an integral part of modern-day life.  

From turning on the lights, to picking our favorite songs and ordering food—we use chatbots for almost everything and expect them to work all the time.  

Why then do most IT support chatbots still struggle to help employees solve their computing problems? 

You say potato, I say Virtual Support Agent 

Before we get ahead of ourselves, there’s an important distinction to be made: chatbots in IT are technically called ‘Virtual Support Agents’—these as the more advanced, smarter cousins to chatbots, capable of contextualizing human inquiries and determining meaning and intent. Conversely, traditional chatbots are built to be one-dimensional and have predetermined scripts that help answer basic questions. 

For example: 

Interested in tickets to the concert tonight? 

 Y/N? 

How many seats do you need?  

1 | 2 | 2+? 

Great – your tickets are ready for purchase here: 

www.ticketmaster.com 

The term ‘chatbot’ has become so popular now that it’s used in a variety of digital contexts, including IT support desks. But if IT chatbots are really virtual support agents, which are supposedly more superior in nature, all the more reason to ask again: why can’t these tools help employees solve common computing problems like a slow PC, wonky email, or spotty VPN connectivity? 

You can only get out what you put in 

The problem is most L1 support chatbots run on a reduced end-user data diet, which results in more re-routing than actual problem solving. Conventional IT chatbots perform tasks like: 

1. Answering basic service requests (triggered by end-users), opening, editing, and viewing support tickets;
2. Conducting limited search and retrieval of knowledge documents (faq’s, case studies, etc.); and
3. Performing simple automation tasks like resetting passwords. 

Though each of these functions serve a purpose they do nothing more than enable a new channel of communication between end-users and IT support. Yes, they grant end-users some temporary relief by passing on their problems but they cannot meet those challenges in real-time. Ultimately, IT chatbots just redirect requests to a live analyst to solve. 

Unlocking your chatbots true potential 

Just like a body builder, your chatbots need a healthy diet (and maybe extra supplements) to reach their full potential. In the IT world, this translates to chatbots that operate on complete endpoint and end-user monitoring and remediation capabilities. Nexthink does just this and will integrate with any chatbot tool and help ITSM teams proactively diagnose and solve end-user computing issues in real time without the constant intervention of human agents. 

With Nexthink’s unique end-user solutions, your chatbots will know when and how to positively influence your employees’ digital work experience. By providing quick self-help and automatic remediation tasks, your chatbots will finally free up that clunky L1 support ticketing process, and give your real analysts the chance to focus on bigger, more important IT projects.  

Want to see exactly what we mean? 

Check out the Nexthink chatbot adapter in action: 

Interested in revamping your current chatbot with better end-user functionality? 

Contact us today!